A question on the use of maces & dagger technique

[Rod-Thornton]

Searched the forum for this one and I cannot seem to find relevant information on it....

Question: Can a mace be used EFFECTIVELY in some of the dagger techniques (such as scissoring the hand from an incoming dagger stab)?I recognize that most dagger work is tip down (point out from pinky-side) and of course the mace is grabbed tip up (business end between thumband forefinger, usually).

In the books I have, I do not really see "mace plates" and I am interested in learning if there are any special techniques to its use beyond the same style as clubbing a fish. For that matter, is there anything more sophisticated that represents any sort of "macemanship" as there is swordsmanship?

[Jay Vail]

not sure what you mean by "Can a mace be used EFFECTIVELY in some of the dagger techniques." If your question is, can the mace employ some of the techniques used for dagger, the answer generally is yes, some of them.

[Rod-Thornton]

Yeah Jay...here's where my head is at. For a modern practioner of a 'dead" martial art, it seems unlikely that I would ever be in a situation to actually have to employ a sword for defense. More likely in this modern world, dagger defense techniques and/or blunt trauma/clubbing seem more likely. I am wondering about the existence of specialized mace training techniques, but do not seem to find 'em.

The night of the original posting, my daughter (an ARMA youth member), who loves the dagger material she was taught by Matt A., was practising it on me, as we tried to work out some of the plates in Codex Wallerstein. Later, I got an old fishing-billy out and tried some of the same blocks, guards, and dagger disarms holding the top-heavy billy. So what carries over and why is there not more material readily apparent?

[JeanryChandler]

You might want to look into some of the European stick fighting techniques which are still being taught. Most of these are in Europe but I know there are at least a couple of different schools which teach Irish bata / alpeen stick fighting in various parts of the US and Canada.

Jr

[david welch]

Jake Norwood did some slick asp and baton stuff, and based it off of messer.

[Allen Johnson]

There are a few Scottish single stick manuals that may be of some use. One is "Anti-Pugilism" by an unknown Highland Officer from 1790. This is sort of done as a training tool for the broadsword but they say it works for stick and sword in the manual.
http://www.geocities.com/cinaet/anti-pugilism.html